Final Exam

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Hope is the Thing with Feathers - Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

Test #2 Preparation

Make sure you read all the articles i put in the articles section under the "for class" heading. Also, watch the first 15-20 minutes of "The Problems of Parenthood." the link is under the Oven Bird poem. you'll find at least 10 answers to Q's from them!

The Oven Bird by Robert Frost

The Oven Bird

There is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past,
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.

Robert Frost

LoB: The Problems of Parenthood

Make sure you watch The Life of Birds: The Problems of Parenthood on Youtube!
Just watch the first 15-20 minutes for 2-3 answers to Q's!

Can Animals Be Gay?

Fascinating Subject... sure to "ruffle the feathers" of religious zealots everywhere. "It's natural!"

NYT March 29, 2010 Can Animals Be Gay?

SF Chronicle February 4, 2004 Central Park Zoo's gay penguins ignite debate

An inspired (and inspiring) song to enjoy while reading...

Engelbert Humperdinck - Lesbian Seagull

"The Life of Birds" Link

I just added a link to the PBS page on the series under "My Links." it doesn't look like you can watch the episodes, but it has full descriptions of each episode; very helpful! make sure you check it out.
Also check out the links on the LoB page. They cover the Bower Bird, Penguins and other birds we need to know about.

New Stuff

i just added links to two articles that Dr. Sperling hasn't given us yet about which he asks questions in the sample exam in the "Bird Articles" page. I also added a link to the Peregrine Falcon page on Wikipedia under "My Links."

Trip Notes

i decided to put trip notes in a new page titled "Trip Notes and Lists" so there's not too much on the front page. please add notes and things that you wrote during our trips that you think are useful.

Notes from Bronx Zoo Trip: Kingfishers

Dr. Sperling pointed out how Kingfishers (the kind around here is the Belted Kingfisher) burrow into river banks to make their nests, like little caves.